Blue Compote c. 1936

Edward White’s watercolor of a blue compote is suffused with a particular attention to the way the object is constructed through light. The painting doesn't just represent the object, but it also speaks to the act of looking, almost as though the artist is seeing something for the first time. There’s something so incredibly satisfying about the way the brushstrokes follow the form, how the different blues bleed into each other, creating both depth and form. The base and stem, with their ribbed and twisted textures, are rendered with such care, drawing your eye through the piece in a dance of light and shadow. The transparency of the glass is almost palpable, and you can see how White experiments with thin layers of paint, allowing the whiteness of the paper to come through, giving the illusion of light shining through water. This piece reminds me of the work of Giorgio Morandi, the way he isolates everyday objects and turns them into these monumental studies of form and light. It’s a reminder that art isn't just about what you see, but how you see it.